Today at work I’ve been listening to Mozart’s Requiem on my iPod. Great stuff. (That’s a nice thing about the mostly solitary, library-like nature of my job; I can listen to music while working, provided I use headphones.) I’m reminded of a choral concert earlier this year that Thom and I attended, a sing-along of Mozart’s Requiem at the National Cathedral. Yeah, sing-along Mozart: no easy task. Most of the others in attendance were current members of other choral groups and such. I hadn’t sung in a chorus since college. I was vaguely familiar with a couple of the Mozart Requiem movements, but nothing really beyond that.
It was my first time to the cathedral—an amazing building—so what a neat way to experience it, from the choir section behind the altar. Thom and I situated ourselves between the men’s sections, as I’m a tenor and he’s more of a baritone. Well, this turned out to be less than ideal. Given the angle at which we were facing the choral director, I had all the baritone/bass voices in my ear, while the other tenors were in front, singing away from me. Ah, well. It was pretty fun, making great music in a beautiful setting. (And I remember that the bass soloist was cute. He was kind of short and unassuming, but had a huge, thunderous voice.)
I really should get back into singing, acting, something. Side note, speaking of music choral and classical: in December we’re seeing Chanticleer at George Mason, as we did last year.
i find i can’t work in the archives here with something as melodious as Mozart - too distracting. I usually try something zen-like along the lines of Steve Reich. How do you do it?
Well, I do have to admit that sometimes it can be distracting to me as well. I mean, once I reach for a pencil and start air-conducting, it’s all over.